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"You. I. I almost-" he threw his arms around her, pulling her close. He wanted, no, needed to feel her heartbeat, the rise and swell of her chest as she breathed. "I almost lost you."

This feeling was so foreign to him. He didn't know how to explain it. He still trembled--she would feel it--but having her pressed against him tightly slowly steadied him. She was alive. She was fine. She was alive.

His relief and worry were wrapped in one with his next phrase. "Thank the gods you're alive."

Red smiled and hugged him back, tightly. She steadyed her heartbeat from the flashback and was overhwelmed with Arien's feelings. But she loved it and didnt want this moment to end. Though she knew it would. Feeling him tremble, she stayed close to him and didnt let him go.
"No Arien. I would never leave you," Red murmured and smiled as she looked up at him.

Nex walked over to Bella and licked her cheek.
You okay? he thought to her.

As much as he didn't want to let her go, he pulled back a little to look down at her. He was calmer and a little more in control of himself now. "You promise?" he asked, his playful eyes serious.

Bella shook herself again after the tiger's lick and then frisked about him. She was fine, if not telepathic. She stopped suddenly to sniff the air and went over to the broken window to sniff intently. Was there a scent of Ash left? Or had it been washed away?

Red was surprised by the seriousness in Arien's eyes.
"I promise." she said completely serious now.
Red's heart almost broke at just the thought of loosing Arien and she realized she needed his promise too.
"You promise you wont leave me right?" she whispered, her eyes reflecting the pain of just the thought.

He nodded. "I promise I will never leave you." He smiled down at her and then kissed her.

Bella pawed at the wet grassy mud and whined. Whether there was a scent trail or not, broken glass was evident.

Red smiled and kissed back, putting her arms around his neck.

Ash's scent trail was still there but very faint. Neo trotted over to Arien and Red then nudged Arien, hard enough to make him fall over.
Nex looked at Bella, wondering what got into her.

Ash watched from a far distance and growled.
"Damn her and that sword," she hissed and punched the tree trunk, leaving a deep crater behind.

Arien growled something under his breath at Neo, as he picked himself up off the muddy ground. "What's with your tigers, Red?" he asked, before noting Bella's posture.

Bella pinned her ears back and then began to follow the faint scent trail of Ash. Her plumed tail was straight and not wagging; her ears alert to sounds, and her nose scant inches from the ground.

"Looks like Bella caught a scent or something..." he trailed off and a dark expression crossed his face. "I think it might be Ash's. I saw her outside the window, just briefly."

Red felt a cold chill go down her spine and suddenly she didnt want to meet Ash face to face anymore.
"Arien. I dont think it's a good idea to go looking for her," she said quickly, standing up.
Bella no. Red thought to Bella.
Red walked over to her gold-bladed sword and shook the mud and water off. Turning over her arm, she checked on the black veins and paled at the sight. They were already past her elbow and traveling fast.
"Arien i think we should leave for that traveling thing you invited me to do," Red tried to say in a cheery tone.
I need to get to that antidote. And quickly.

"What do you mean it's not a good idea? Isn't that the way to get rid of the, ah, black mark on your arm?" He hadn't forgotten about the black veins either, though he'd been more worried about immediate death by drowning.

Bella paused and looked back at Red and Arien. She looked unhappy and torn. And then she let out a half-anguished bark of frustration and took off in favor of the strange scent.

"Bella!" Arien yelled after the wolf. "Come back here!"

Fear set in for Bella and everyone else saftey. Immediatly the fear turned into pure hatred for Ash.
"Fine. I'll deal with her then," Red said the hatred clearly showing in her tone.
Taking off after Bella, Red gripped her sword's hilt until her hand bled from the grip. She was completely blinded by fury now, Red overtook Bella quickly then used powers she didnt even know she had.
Speaking in ancient tongue, a wall of dirt came out of the ground in front of Bella. It towered far over her head and was too thick to hack through. Red kept on running until she suddenly leapt into a tree and sliced the trunk in half with one swing. Red smirked as she found Ash and lunged for her.

Ash gasped as Red sliced the trunk in half then drew her own sword. The two metal blades clashed and the force of Red's swing sent Ash flying through a few tree trunks. Large wood chips stabbed and punctured Ash.
Damn.. She found out she had powers as well.. Ash thought. Then smirked as she realized she had trained with her powers so this would be easy.

Bella howled as she slid to a halt in front of the dirt obstacle. She scrabbled at it, then under it, trying to find a way around it. She gave up and howled for her tiger friends to come to her aide.

Arien found her there and he tried to soothe her, but he was just as confused and upset. He hadn't meant to force Red to fight Ash. But he figured things wouldn't settle down until they had a go at each other. He just hoped Red wouldn't die.

"I know, Bella," he said softly. "All we can do is hope and wait." He crossed his fingers.

Ash leapt up and balanced on a thin branch before jumping over Red and managing to cut Red's shoulder. Red winced then turned around to find Ash right in front of her. Only a centimeter away, Ash reached out and grabbed Red's arm with the black veins on it.
"You are to weak to fight me. I will stall the black veins for now. Come back later when you think your strong enough. Then kill me, hone your powers and maybe then you will deafeat me. You have two weeks to strengthen up, then the Withering Willow will proceed with killing you. Slowly," hissed Ash before dissappearing into the shadows.

Red's legs gave out from under her and she managed to grab onto the branch and hang there. Wincing as her shoulder strained from the deep cut as well as hanging onto the branch, she let go of her sword. It plummeted 30 feet to the ground. Exhaustion swept over Red and she felt her hands slipping.
"Arien!!" she yelled before her hands slipped and she fell as if in slow motion towards the ground. But it was just her mind playing tricks on her, she was falling rapidly and the ground kept getting closer.

Arien heard his name, and quicker than thought, teleported to her. He didn't know how or why...one moment he was beside Bella, the next he was on solid ground and something hard and decidedly Red-shaped collapsed on him.

"Ow," he mumbled as he broke her fall. "Did I make it in time?"

"Ouch...yes..your not something very soft to land on..are you ok?" Red said suddenly concerned about him.
She scrambled off him then bent over him, a look of concern in her eyes.

Neo and Nex had run over beside Bella a little while back and was looking at her.

Arien grimaced and picked himself out of the dirt. "Not soft? What are you talking about? I've got all sorts of-" He bit off the rest of his comment as he realized what he was saying.

"Anyway," he coughed, "I'm fine. Mostly." And then he peered at Red. "Are you injured? You've got blood on you."

Red wasnt sure what he was about to say but now she was curious.
"Oh yea im fine, its nothing. What were you gonna say?" Red said curiously and got closer to Arien.
Blood had soaked the whole left shoulder of Red's shirt but she no longer felt the pain there.

Arien rolled his eyes when she pressed him for more. "...soft spots; but I prefer muscle to being squishy."

He winced when her shoulder came into view. "Good grief, what happened? Is it deep? Take your shirt off." Honestly, he didn't have ulterior motives; he was just worried about the wound and whether Red was going to bleed out on him.

"Why don't we sit first?" he asked, realizing that if she did pass out, she'd hurt herself less the closer to the ground she was.

Bella looked at the tigers and whined. Where was Arien? Where was Red? She pawed at the dirt mound.

Red blushed at his request then looked away. Lifting her shirt off then sitting down. The cut was pretty deep but it was now only barely bleeding. Red sat with her back facing him so he could actually see the cut.
She moved some strands of her hair so that it wouldnt get in the blood.

Neo motioned for them to go around.

Arien knelt down behind her to get a better look at the wound. "It looks like it's clotting--that's good. We just need to keep some pressure on it."

He looked around for something to use as bandage material and then down at himself. His shirt would have to do. He had another one in his pack...but at this rate he was going to need to head to town to buy more clothes

Bella cautiously approached the edge of the dirt barrier, and then seeing the coast was clear, dashed off again in pursuit of that strange scent.

Red shivered as Arien's breathing hit her skin. She was blushing every second longer that they sat here. Knowing she was probably as red as a tomato didnt help either. Looking back at Arien to see what he was doing, she froze for a second realizing he took off his shirt. Then quickly she looked back in front of her.

Nex motioned for Neo to scout ahead of Bella, he took the rear position.